style
Regulus walked down the street crying and wiping his tears. It also didn't help that it was windy and his eyes were so fucked up that he couldn't a thing.
Funny enough that was a weird motivation for Regulus to stop crying, at least he would have a chance to cry more safely walking home than getting run by a car and can't even cry his feeling out whilst being alive.
So Regulus walked the whole way home wiping his runny nose, and his burning red eyes and also stopping to buy two things. Some vodka with lovely chocolate ice cream. Honestly, Regulus didn't know how to cheer himself up, but what he did knew is that whenever he was upset, Sirius would steal some chocolate ice cream from their mother's forbidden cabinet (she loves chocolate ice cream and hides it from her kids because they weren't allowed to have any sugar) and gave it to him. Of course, Sirius would just lie that he didn't like chocolate at all and give it all to Regulus.
But Sirius's favorite thing in the whole world was chocolate. And Regulus didn't understand it at first until Remus told him that Sirius would steal any kind of chocolate dessert he could find in Remus's coffee shop.
Regulus only started to think about how to cure this type of sadness when Sirius left his side. There was no way to cheer up at all. He just felt so alone and so empty that he could not even feel a tinge of sadness.
But once he met James, it was the first time in years he ever felt this sad. And it wasn't even because of Sirius is just that one, James saw his most vulnerable side and his ragged relationship with Sirius (his best friend), and two he spits out a bunch of mean words and now he is like ninety-nine percent sure that James didn't want to talk to him ever again.
Though the last part is totally made up by his overthinking, he still felt embarrassed and needed someone to talk it out. Regulus called his therapist but even he was tired that day. So he texted his friends to make them come over and talk to him?
People that made therapists go to therapy
(The black sheep) Regulus
can anyone come to my house I talked to Sirius again
Sent 6:55
(Blondie) Pandora
What do you mean again? Didn't you swear last time to Satan that you wouldn't talk to him again?
(The black sheep) Regulus
I'm an atheist
(Adopted) Barty Crouch Jr.
I thought you were in a cult
(Blonde with a brain) Evan Rosier
What did I miss?
(Adopted) Barty Crouch Jr.
Read the chat dumbass
(The black sheep) Regulus
spare you two idiots I know Evan is working and Barty won't help, so Pandora please cure my sins
(Adopted) Barty Crouch Jr.
ugh shut up, you are missing out on my excellent advice
(The black sheep) Regulus
you told me to hang my brother
Sent 7:00
Both Pandora and Barty came to his house 20 minutes later. Barty was not welcome but he came anyway, for fun.
Regulus was finally relieved upon seeing his friends and was delighted he made friends. Because sometimes found family is better than your own, and he though James was Sirius's found family. Suddenly he wasn't mad anymore.
"My little disappointment! how have you been?" Barty shouted running from one block to another to hug Regulus that was waiting on his porch.
"Good," Regulus smiled, a mischievous one. Barty was happy until... "Without you!"
"Just come along, spare the speech you two, I bought sushi!" Pandora said as she lifted a box of sushi that she bought which made Regulus and Barty break the hug immensely and Regulus rushed to open his front door.
They hurried up to Regulus's floor and settled in the living room. The coffee table was filled with sushi, and also some wine. And Barty and Pandora sat on the rug whilst Regulus sat on a sofa. Weirdly it looked like Regulus was reporting the news.
"Hang your brother" Barty muttered even before Regulus started talking.
Regulus sighed "To your surprise, this isn't about Sirius, it's about," Regulus paused and inhaled "James."
Pandora choked on her sushi.
"You have a new crush" Barty laughed full of evil "I knew it! since when you are this emotional. You don't have emotions half of the time!"
Pandora and Regulus glared at him.
"Sorry, I thought jokes would cheer you up but I guess this is serious"
"It's fine," Regulus admitted "I know you both care about me," He patted Barty on the shoulder "Even if it's saying physically impossible things"
Barty smiled and leaned into his touch.
after a few minutes, Pandora asked the most important question.
"You love him?" She whispered as if somebody was gonna hear them. And Pandora did this because she knew Regulus hated in his life talk about his love life, especially if it showed a tiny little bit of his feelings.
But to Pandora, being loved by Regulus Black was the best thing anyone could ask for.
Except... for the temper tantrums.
"Love doesn't quite cut it," Both Barty and Pandora gasped but they were disappointed by his next words, "I think I like him"
Barty grabbed the bottle of wine and started filling his cup to the brim and chucking it.
Pandora only signed and fed him some veggie rolls.
"Well that's for sure, if you didn't like him you wouldn't care about how he thought of you, would you?" Pandora stated, her voice stern, like s serious voice.
"I mean, I do care. But James especially. I would try to hide my relationship with Sirius making it all look perfect, my bad temper, family issues, these things I all tried to hide from him but today they all got exposed just like that. And I don't think I can face him anymore. Because what if he doesn't like me this way? what if he only talked to me because he liked the strict and intelligent Professor Black?
"If he can't accept and love all of the worst parts of yours, he's not worth your time. But from what Pandora told me, I think James is not that kind of person. I think you overthinking" Barty said suddenly.
Pandora got up to sit next to Regulus and gave him some shoulder pats, he hates hugs.
"I'm not ready to face him just yet," Regulus admitted "I feel like he's too good for me."
Barty chugged down another glass of wine.
"Talk to him when you are comfortable," Pandora suggested "But don't you dare to ghost him like you ghosted us when we fought"
"Oh, I won't!" Regulus screeched.
He did in fact, ghost James.
-
James never knew what the hell was, and if there was a hell.
But for James, hell was people ignoring him and not telling him why. James thought that the worst-case scenario was that maybe, possibly Regulus would be mad at him for like a few days. He didn't even think about the possibility that Regulus could straight-up ghost him in text and in real life. And to be honest he half wished now that he didn't wave to Sirius.
The thing is, he knows how to cheer Sirius up, but Regulus? oh no, it was a straight-up nightmare.
And as a new professor, you probably are expected to make friends more than enemies on your shift. And James also felt bad that Regulus would avoid lunchtime so he didn't have to see James.
So James's day went as well as you might think.
In the morning James greeted him, but Regulus just looked away in fear.
Then even worse when James was teaching, he ran out of chalk and had to go next door to Regulus's classroom to ask him for chalk. So this led to an awkward interaction where Regulus asked one of his students to give James a box of new unopened chalk and the student couldn't find it in Regulus's huge ancient cabinet that was never at all organized. And stuff would fall it every time you dug in it.
That student was coincidentally Harry.
"Um, Sir are you sure this cabinet has chalk in it?" Harry asked panting from all the digging he had to do.
"Yeah, Pandora just gave me two boxes like a week ago"
This time it was Regulus digging through the cabinet. The students in his class all thanked James because for some reason Regulus was extra strict that day and was giving homework and assignments left and right. After a good half an hour of digging Regulus finally found the chalk. In the end, it was behind some paper documents but Regulus couldn't have found it so easily because he felt pressure from James just straight up staring at him.
So he got up and handed the chalk to him.
But what Regulus didn't expect is that their hands touched lightly and he swore James held on to his fingers because he just couldn't let go. The students stared as James was refusing to let go whilst maintaining eye contact with Regulus, smirking.
He felt little fires being lit from his hand when James touched him.
"Let go," Regulus whispered at James's dumb smirk which looked too well on his face.
James only tilted his head and widened his smirk.
"Stop it, please James. Im teaching" Regulus insisted again escaping his hold but he just couldn't.
Please?
James.
James finally let go of his hold and Regulus finally had his hands back. He smiled and waved and finally left.
Regulus looked at James's shadow, then at Harry, then at his students and he really wished he had dug a hole for him to jump into.